Okay, I know I have posted before about some irrational fears and now that I look back on them, they are pretty dumb. Anyways, now knowing the standard for blood to blood contact, I may have had a risk factor. Here's the story.

So my girlfriend and I were driving down the highway and we were rear ended by some jackass who wasn't paying attention to the road and doing well over 90 mph, and as he hit us from behind we rolled the car three or four times and eventually stopped. Thank God we are alive. Anyways, as my girlfriend and I checked on each other for injuries, we both appeared to be fine. We continuously checked regardless with our hands. The other driver had a blood nose and busted lip and had a fair amount of blood on him. He checked my gf's hand due to it bleeding and there was some blood on our car. Not sure if the blood came from him or my gf. Anyways, she had a small wound on her hand that bled pretty good. My gf said he didn't touch her skin or wound or anything, which makes me feel better. My situation is that eventually I noticed a small cut on the side of my face that was bleeding pretty good. My fear is that what if I accidentally came into contact with his blood and then kept repetitively touching my wound and got his blood into my cut. What are the chances of contracting hep C? My concern is that this individual was on probation and maybe served some time due to drug charges such as possession/distribution of a controlled substance. Unsure of the substance he was charged with. My concern is that if he ever injected drugs, then there is a chance he could have used a dirty needle or something. I brought this all up to the EMT staff and the doctor that took care of me and they both said that it looked like it was just all my blood and it doesn't seem to be something to be concerned about, but my fear is accidentally touching his blood and rubbing it into my cut. What are the chances of contracting hep c this way if the individual was HCV positive? Thank you in advance for the replies. *On the other note, this accident occurred on Feb. 2, 2014, so I will be getting tested around May 7 or so.

Response from Mr. Glenn

Thanks for your question,

I'm very happy that you and your girlfriend are safe!

That being said, let's address the situation. There's no risk here. You're getting better at recognizing your irrational fears, but it's a process that's going to take work to make sure you don't fall into the same patterns.

The situation you're describing was a fairly serious accident, so it makes sense that it would wake up all these fears you have when blood is involved. But about halfway into your post, it starts being imagined "what if this" and "what if that." Without any clear evidence of blood going from the other driver into and inside your body. If fact, from your description it sounds like that didn't happen.

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